Meg Nightstalkers is the fifth book in the Meg series so this review contains ***SPOILERS*** if you have not read the first four books in the series. This is a series that can be read independently, but you get the most out of the series when you read them in order - so I recommend that you start with Meg, The trench, Primal waters and Hell's aquarium.
It seems as though the Taylor family is destined to be at the mercy of prehistoric creatures thought long extinct. What started with a single megaladon who devoured her mate to escape the confines of the secret world has become a saga across generations as first Jonas Taylor and then his son David have been forced to face off against prehistoric creatures that have no fear of man and no natural predators in the modern world. Having lost decades to the sharks Jonas is now an old man plagued with the challenges of age and a seemingly never ending cycle of lawsuits and dramas from "his" sharks.
His son David has also tasted the pain of watching a loved one die in prehistoric jaws and it has changed him. After a failed suicide attempt he has decided to go after the monsters that have surfaced from the depths of the ocean - including the monster that took his girlfriend right in front of him. He is determined to get what he wants, a single minded focus that could cost him his life. As he chases his monsters he has no idea that his father is also on a collision course with fate - because another leviathan from the distant past has found its way free to wreak havoc on the world.
I have often said that this series is my guilty little secret - mostly because everything about it is pretty much against what I would normally read. I read science fiction, but not usually anything as technical as this, and I usually don't like anything that is overly "explainy" or descriptive. This series shouldn't work, it has a far fetched premise that seems to get more far fetched with each book - but it just seems to work.
They have just started filming for the adaptation of the first book in the series and we have been promised at least one more book in the series, Meg generations, so it looks like I will get to indulge my guilty little secret for a little while longer at least!
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Reviewed by Brilla
Bullseye is the ninth book in the Michael Bennett series, and while they can be read independently you get the most enjoyment out of the series when you read them in order. This review contains series ***SPOILERS*** if you have not read the entire series. I highly recommend that you read the series in order, starting with Step on a crack.
President Buckland is visiting the great city of New York - as is the assassin hired to kill him. A twist of fate brings Detective Michael Bennett into the case, a case that has far reaching consequences beyond the borders of his city - and maybe even beyond the borders of his country. This is the ultimate game of cat and mouse for Bennett, the FBI and the Secret Service as they hunt for a skilled killer that travels beneath the radar with disturbing ease. To make matters worse it seems as though there may be more than one assassin in town as a perfectly executed hit on a clandestine drug lab took two killers to pull it off.
Bennett is used to racing against the clock, and he is used to playing catch up, but this time POTUS is in danger and if he dies on Bennett's watch then it could mean war. While Detective Bennett is in full work mode he has no idea that danger is stalking his family and their guest, a stalker has very bad intentions indeed. As the pressure mounts to find the assassin Bennett finds himself in the very familiar position of a race against time under very trying circumstances.
The Michael Bennett series is my stand out favourite series by James Patterson, and I eagerly await each new installment to see what is next for Bennett and his family. I have seldom been disappointed by the series as Patterson and Ledwidge have an amazing writing chemistry and the books are so fast paced that you are practically reading on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
I have to confess to being a little disappointed with Bullseye, and I am not sure if it was because I read the first half in fits and starts, or if I read in fits and starts because it didn't grab me in the usual way. I did enjoy the second half very much (classic Detective Bennett fare) but I felt the first half suffered from being a little too technical - I know something about rifles and it felt like my eyes were glazing over in places. A good addition to the Bennett series but not the best by a long shot (and it will be interesting to see where Patterson and Ledwidge take the story next!)
If you like this book then try:
- Step on a crack by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Run for your life by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Worst case by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Tick tock by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- I, Michael Bennett by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Gone by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Burn by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Alert by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge
- Eeny meeny by M.J. Arlidge
- The surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
- The apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
- Kill switch by Neal Baer and Jonathan Greene
- NYPD Red by James Patterson and Marshall Karp
- Kill me if you can by James Patterson and Marshall Karp
Reviewed by Brilla
New guard is the seventeenth book in the CHERUB series and while it can be enjoyed on it's own it is much better to either start at the very beginning with The recruit, or start at the beginning of the second series with People's republic.
Life is never boring when you are CHERUB agent, but you also never know what mission might be around the corner. When twins Leon and Daniel take the law into their own hands and help deal with a paedophile they find themselves on the receiving end of the harshest punishment in known CHERUB history - they can take it or they can quit. It seems as though the second option might be the lesser of two evils when they find themselves involved in a new mission that soon grows to include their older brother Ryan.
The twins simple discover and assess mission is far from simple - they have stumbled across a link between a local criminal and Islamic State. James Adams may be a former CHERUB agent himself but even he is not fully prepared for the black mission they are about to embark on behind enemy lines. Everyone involved in this mission has to be prepared for torture and death, because if they are captured they are officially without country or support. As the former and present CHERUB agents prepare for the biggest mission of their lives it seems as though the odds are stacked against them.
This is a truly challenging book to review because I don't want to give away too many spoilers!
CHERUB is one of my favourite series for older children and teenagers so I was totally shocked to discover that New guard is being advertised as the last book in the CHERUB series! It feels like I am losing some of my favourite characters because over the past decade the CHERUB books have been so hugely popular and because I have waited for each book to come out with eager anticipation. If this truly is the last book in the CHERUB series then Muchamore has delivered an end to the series that is both satisfying and leaves you wanting some more - he delivers his usual high octane thrills and spills, and this time manages to truly blend together the past and present with CHERUB agents new and newly decommissioned coming together as a kind of super CHERUB that gets stuck in to get the job done.
If this truly is the end of the series then Muchamore has done an amazing job of bringing together the two separate strands of the story (James and co and then Ryan and co) into a single finale that is truly worthy of the name CHERUB. As an adult reading the series it was also kind of nice to see what happened to the former CHERUB agents as they moved into their adult lives - something you don't often get to see with series for children and teenagers.
The complete CHERUB series in order is:
- The recruit by Robert Muchamore
- Class A by Robert Muchamore
- Maximum security by Robert Muchamore
- The killing by Robert Muchamore
- Divine madness by Robert Muchamore
- Man vs. beast by Robert Muchamore
- The fall by Robert Muchamore
- Mad dogs by Robert Muchamore
- The sleepwalker by Robert Muchamore
- The general by Robert Muchamore
- Brigands M.C by Robert Muchamore
- Shadow wave by Robert Muchamore
- People's republic by Robert Muchamore
- Guardian angel by Robert Muchamore
- Black Friday by Robert Muchamore
- Lone wolf by Robert Muchamore
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Reviewed by Brilla
